Two persons including a bank employee in Hunsur town have been arrested by the police for misusing the ATM card of a NRI customer and fraudulently withdrawing Rs 6.96 lakh from her account.
After the State Bank of India's customer Roopa, who works abroad, lodged a complaint with the police earlier this month, the police constituted a special team to identify the culprits.
Based on CCTV footage obtained from ATMs, the police arrested Mahadevaswamy, a ‘D’ Group employee of the bank's Hunsur town branch, and his accomplice Mahadeva, a resident of Periyapatna, for misusing the ATM card issued in the name of the complainant.
Apparently, Roopa had applied for a card before going abroad. The card and the password, which was returned to the bank, were misused by Mahadevaswamy and his accomplice.
Sub Inspector of Hunsur Town Police station Lava Kumar told The Hindu that a total of 59 transactions had been made over a period six months from the victim's account. “While Mahadeva used to enter the ATM wearing a helmet, the main accused Mahadevaswamy used to come to check the balance without a helmet. He was probably under the impression that he would not be trapped if he checked the balance. So, he was sending Mahadeva to withdraw the cash while he himself used to check only the balance once in a while”, Mr. Lava Kumar said.
